THE DEVIL & THE SERPENT
When I finally came to my head and wrists were throbbing. My arms were aching and everything was groggy.
I slowly blinked my eyes open. Blurry figures and objects became clear as I looked at my surroundings with drooping eyes.
It smelt of wood and dust. I was in an abandoned warehouse. Nothing was here besides me and the fifteen men and women (it took me three tries to finally count the correct number of moving fuzzy figures). The floor was covered in dust and debris. The walls were covered in graffiti and falling apart.
There were windows on the high ceiling, allowing the full moon to illuminate what seemed liked the millions of candles could not. The heat from the burning candles scattered around didn't help with the dry heat of California (that was the only indication that I was still in the same state; the fucking heat was different over here). I could feel the sweat running down my body - that I was just now realizing was chained up.
My hands were tied together by a chain that let the rest of my body hang, my feet barely touching the ground. I tried to move my wrists around, but it was tied so tight I could barely wiggle them.
One of the men nearby heard my struggling and his head whipped my way.
"Viper, diga a Caín que está despierta," the latino man ordered to the short, dark skinned girl standing by the door on the other side of the warehouse. Her black, long and full curly hair bounced as she nodded her head. She glanced at me before opening the giant red doors and stepping out into the dark. The doors creaked closed, a loud thud sounding as she shut them.
"Quién es Caín?" I mumbled, groaning at the burst of pain that shot through my head. I squeezed my eyes shut, sighing as the feeling slowly disappeared.
"You'll find out soon, muñeca," the pale, blonde girl that stood closest to me smiled, mischievously. She was tall with a perfect hourglass figure. Her face was caked with blotchy makeup and her long, blonde hair ran down her back. I looked down to the giant rifle she was holding in her hands. I noticed that everyone had some form of a weapon: a knife, a gun on their hip or a rifle in their hands (or all three).
"Who taught you that word, gringa?" I asked. I saw her jaw tighten and I looked over to the guy who ordered the other girl to get Cain - whoever the fuck that was. I nodded at him, a smirk on my lips. "Was it you? You look like you got a thing for white, skinny putas."
I could see the girl start to move, but his voice stopped her. "Copper, let it go. Cain will deal with her."
She reluctantly stood down, glaring at me from her spot a few feet away from me. I giggled and she scoffed. "I would be more scared if I was you."
"Well, that makes sense," I attempted to shrug. "You look like a pussy."
I saw her jaw clench and she put her gaze forward instead of on me. After a few more seconds the doors opened again. Two tall, bulky men walked in side by side. One was black and one was asian. They strode in sync, their faces emotionless. After a few more steps they stepped to oppossite sides, revealing a shorter man behind them.
I could tell he was the man in charge - Cain - just by the fact he was in a blue, suede suit compared to everyone else's plain attire of black jeans and black shirts.
He was slim and older. The hair on top of his head was gray along with his mustache and short beard. His eyes were small, but sparkled with something that made me shudder. I quickly regained my bad bitch and I stood as tall as I could.
His workers silently stood out of his way as he approached me, parting like the red sea. He smiled as he stopped a couple feet in front of me. He smelled of cologne and as I felt his aura surround me I understood why they called him Cain.
"Violetta," he started, his voice deep and silky. It was so haunting it sent another chill down my spine. "You have no idea how long I've been waiting to meet you. It's a pleasure."
"Can't say the same," I shot back, flatly.
"To be in the predicament you are in right now, you have quite an attitude," he observed.
"Well, what can I say? I'm just made this way," I fake smiled, turning it into a compliment.
He chuckled, nodding his head once before meeting my eyes again. "Sorry for the chains, but we went through so much to find you - can't have you getting away so easily."
"You gonna apologize for having your men ambush me while one knocked me out with... what was that?"
"Chloroform," he answered. "And I do apologize, but a tough girl like you wouldn't come willingly, I'm sure."
"You're right, and I won't be staying, either."
He smiled a whole, teeth showing smile. "I'm sure you're experiencing a killer headache. I apologize for that, too. You were starting to wake up on the way here and we were fresh out of Chloroform, so my real good friend Copper had to knock you out."
My eyes flicked over to the white girl and she smirked at me. I rolled my eyes, looking back at Cain. "Isn't she sweet."
"Anything but, actually. She's called Copper for a reason."
"And that reason is?"
"Her aim with that beautiful weapon in her hands is immaculate and unforgiving," he told me, motioning to the rifle. "I wouldn't want to be on her bad side."
I scoffed. "I've spent the last month and a half dodging bullets. That Victoria Secret model reject doesn't scare me."
"Like I said, you're one tough girl," he repeated. He turned around, walking towards one of his men who was sitting down. He approached him, and he quickly gave him his chair. "But that isn't why you're here, Ms. Acosta."
He dragged the chair in front of me as he sat down, laying his leg on his other one as he leaned back and leaned up to me. "Enlighten me."
I knew why I was here. It was because of my father. This was the man he sent me away for so he could kill him. Clearly, he hadn't got to that part yet.
"You, Violetta, are collateral damage of your father's betrayals," he informed me.
My eyebrows crinkled in confusion. What was he talking about? My father was a man if ethics and morals. He was harsh and unemotional, but his values were ones that never faltered. And at the top of that long list of principles was loyalty. It was so important that it was the number one rule he gave all the gangs he ran. He would never betray anyone of his own.
"Mi padre nunca traicionaría one of his own," I spat, defensively.
"That's what he says, but he, my dear, is un mentiroso," he said. "Rio, bring her to her knees!" I heard clinking from above in the shadows and the chain holding me up became loose. I dropped down, my knees hitting the floor with a thud. I grunted as I felt the chain raise my arms back above my head. I felt it lock into place and glared at the man who was now eye level with me. He uncrossed his legs and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees as he looked at me.
"You think I'm gonna sit here and listen to you insult my father with your lies? I refuse. He's not a liar - you are."
"I wish I was lying," he said. "If I was then my brother would still be alive."
"What are you talking about?" I asked.
"I'll tell you the story, but I will not put up with being a called a liar. You listen and you understand every word coming out it my mouth is the entire truth. Entiendes?"
I gulped and nodded. As every second passed this man was becoming more and more scary.
"Good," he breathed. He sat back in his chair and pulled the cigar from his suit pocket. One of his hinchmen ran beside him and lit the cigar. He returned back to his spot and Cain put the cigar inbetween his lips, taking a drag and then exhaling. "Thirty years ago, your father and I were nobody's. Living out of our cars in the slums of Santiago de Cuba. The country was still trying to recover from the revolution and it was pure chaos. One day, we ran into some trouble with a local gang. We didn't have anything to lose so we joined. Almost a decade went by of putting in work and getting blood on our hands before we made it to the top - before we were the ones giving orders. We built that worthless gang into being the most feared group of people in our district and the districts surrounding. But it wasn't just us two who struggled on the streets and then built that gang up."
"Your brother," I whispered.
He nodded. "We were the most feared trio for miles - through countless barrios. We were all brothers. And one day, your father recognized that we were good at what we did. Taking struggling gangs and giving them structure and rules - we were great at making them great. He thought we should look for more gangs in need of help... and we did. We rehabilitated multiple gangs around Cuba. We had passed six figures and we were no longer those struggling boys on the streets. We were business men."
"Your father met your mom and she gave him the bright idea of moving our business across seas. There were thousands of gangs over here that needed us, and the more we helped the more money we made. It was a good idea - a good investment - so we made sure we took gangs that had no history with each other under our belt. We were millionares by now and your mom had you and you just kept growing. Everything was perfect, then one day, mi hermanito brought up that we should expand our help to non-latino gangs, too. But your father didn't like that."
Silence filled the air as he closed his eyes. It was clear the memory had haunted him. He stood up from his chair and walked behind it. He took a puff from his cigar before opening his eyes and continuing. "Months had passed and we still weren't on the same page. One night, I called a last minute meeting as an attempt to come to an agreement. You were there - I'm not sure you remember it, though."
I could feel the tears pool in my eyes. I could feel my chest become heavy - the end of this story becoming transparent.
Of course I remembered that night. It was the night that haunted me in my dreams for the last fourteen years. It was the night that had me waking up and yelling at three in the morning for five years. It was the night I tried my best to forget.
Cain took notice of my pained expression and he nodded. "Your face tells me you do remember," he stated. "You remember your father killing my brother in cold blood. You remember him putting a gun to his head when he refused to listen to his orders. You remember him pulling the trigger. Then," he paused, his voice becoming cold. "You remember him walking away, pulling you out of the room and leaving him to lie in his own puddle of blood, lifeless."
Silent tears were running down my face and I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came out. He stared at me, waiting for an answer, but when nothing came out he became angry. He dropped his cigar, stomping it out before throwing the chair to the side and walking forward, crouching in front of me. He grabbed my face in his hands roughly.
"Nothing to say about your father's treacherous acts? You had so much to say before," he spat, his voice tight and angry.
I wanted to answer, but all I could do was cry.
For my entire life I was so mad at my father for not paying attention to me. I hated him for not showing me love and for leaving me in that big mansion by myself. The only thing that stopped me from resenting him completely was his morals. He might have been a shit dad, but at least he was loyal and true to his loved ones and family. And now I find out that he isn't even that.
I looked around at all different faces staring at our interaction and Cain's diverse group of henchmen surrounding us made sense to me now. He went around helping gangs of all different races and ethnicities after that night. Just like his brother wanted.
He sighed, letting go of my face. "I understand how hard it must be to realize your father isn't the man you thought he was," he began, faking an apologetic voice. "But if it makes you feel any better - know the blame isn't only on him."
"What do you mean?" I choked out. I knew what he meant, but I wanted him to say it.
"Your mother gave him the idea," he revealed, bitterly. "Aurora Acosta must be related to Lady Macbeth." A moment of silence passed before he finished, "She has always looked like the innocent flower, but was in fact the serpent under it."
I wasn't under the impression my parents were good people. They fund and run gangs. They fucking sent me here so they could kill this man. But even through all of it, I thought at the least they were honorable people.
They disappoint me once again.
"Your daddy should have the name Cain instead of me. He's the real brother murderer," he joked, but the pain in his eyes stayed. "But El Diablo suits him more. He's worse than Cain could ever be. Victor Acosta is the devil and he will pay for his betrayals. Starting with the death of his daughter."
The words should have terrified me, but they didn't. I was too lost in the revelations about my parents. I wasn't scared or pleading for my life - I was just disappointed. The disappointment was soon replaced with anger. I was angry that I was in this situation because of my backstabbing parents. They refused to love me for twenty-two years, but that just wasn't enough. Now, I was going to die because of them.
"How did you find me?" I asked, watching as he pulled the chair back in front of me.
He chuckled as he sat down, leaning forward again. "I tell you I'm going to kill you and you're worried about how I found you? Your priorities are out of order." I stayed silent, staring at him as I waited for an answer. Once he realized I was going to reply he continued, "You got a lot of enemies, Violetta. I called a couple girls up named Marisol and Ella. Let me tell you, they had a few choice words to say about you. They were the ones who told me you were in LA."
Those. Fucking. Bitches.
I knew I wronged them, but what I did wasn't nearly as bad as telling the man who wanted to kill me where I was.
"I had eyes on you ever since you exited that on little kid's house after that lockdown. What was his name? Ruby-"
"You leave him out of this!" I yelled, angrily. "You can come after me all you want, but you leave the kids out of it."
He held up his arms. "I'm not going to touch a hair on their pretty little heads, doll. You can believe that. I only wanted you," he swore, lowering his hands. "I knew of everything that came after that day. The shopping day you had and the frozen yogurt friend you made. The Santos redecorating crew you had that turned into a paint war. The frozen yogurt girl's showdown at her exes house that you had partaken in. The birthday party that that cholo your father sent you to live with threw for you. Then, that cholo becoming your novio. I know about the dance practice for the little girl's quince you both attended. I know about everything."
I clenched my jaw, glaring at him. Knowing someone was watching my every move for so long made my blood run cold. How could I have not noticed? I was such an idiot. I got to Oscar's house and assumed I was safe from this. I should have been more mindful of my surroundings instead of falling for the false sense of security in his arms.
"Upon knowing all these things, I realized you were never alone. You were always with someone, whether it was the cholo and his gang or your new friend or one of the children. And I needed you alone to kidnap you successfully," he revealed. "I needed someone who knew where you'd be the next couple of days and who you'd be with. And who would know that better than your best friend?"
My heart stopped as the realization dawned on me.
"So I wrote a letter to my estranged daughter. I apologized and asked her to meet up and she did. With a push from you," he smiled, evilly. "Thanks for that, by the way."
This was Cat's father.
I couldn't even wrap my head around it.
And when I almost got to it, I became angry.
"You used your daughter to get to me? What kind of heartless monster are you?" I accused. "She was so happy her father wanted to see her, but in reality all you wanted to do was manipulate her. Was leaving her all those years ago not enough?"
"I left Catalina because I had a growing business I needed to run. I'm not your father. I wasn't going to be tied down by a kid and a one night stand gone wrong," he said so effortlessly. As if the hurt and mental insecurities he left by leaving was nothing. "And even if I did decide to stay and be a father, she would've grown up just like you. In a mansion all alone because her dad was always leaving. If you asked me, I did her a favor."
I shook my head. "Catalina is a good person - she doesn't deserve this. She doesn't deserve you as a father."
"It's not about what she deserves. It's about the fact she's a person who had information I needed. So I did what I had to do to get it."
"So what now? You never contact her again? You disappear again?"
He nodded. "I got what I needed from her."
"You're a pathetic excuse for a man," I spat. "You're no better than my father."
Not one second passed before his fist collided with my cheek. My head snapped sideways from the impact and I felt the taste of blood in my mouth. I spat the blood out on the floor before slowly turning my head back to him.
"Hit me all you want. It won't change the fact I'm getting out of here," I told him.
"You counting on your badass, gang leader man to come for you?" he laughed. "Oscar Diaz and that pitiful group of men he calls a gang won't get within one hundred feet of this building before they're corpses. I got an army outside with orders to shoot and kill anyone whose not one of ours. If you somehow got past all of us, you can't get past them. You don't stand a chance."
The thought of being surrounded by these people unnerved me, but I knew I could do it. I had faith in myself and in Oscar. I just prayed he would still want to come save me after all the hurtful things I said to him before. I know if I was him I'd leave me here, chained up and on the road to a painful death.
It hurt thinking that I would die here without making things right between us. I wanted to see everyone's faces for the last time, but that is what pushed me to think of ways out of here. So I could see their faces again.
There was only one door. Only one way in and out and I needed to get past fifteen heavily armed people. I didn't even know how many lurked above in the shadows. The first step was figuring out a way to get out of these chains. Then, I needed to get a gun from one these assholes. My best bet was Blondie.
She already didn't like me and it clearly didn't take much to set her off. If I could get her close enough or catch her off guard I could knock her out and mow these other dicks down before they could even prop their guns up.
How I was going to get to the door without the shadow lurkers shooting me in the head and then past the people outside was still being thought about. But I was taking it one step at a time. I'd deal with it when I got to it.
"We'll see about that," I replied, challengingly.
He laughed before shaking his head. "No. You won't."
His fist connected with my face once again - this time knocking me out.
∭
Translations:
• Viper, diga a Caín que está despierta → Viper, tell Cain she's awake.
• Quién es Caín? → Who is Cain?
• muñeca → doll
• gringa → white girl
• Mi padre nunca traicionaría... → My father would never betray...
• un mentiroso → a liar
• Entiendes → You understand?
• barrios → neighborhoods
• El Diablo → The Devil
• novio → boyfriend
————
shit is going dooooooown. whose predictions came true?
me: raise your hand if you hate cain
all of you guys:
↓ cain when cat's mom told him she was pregnant ↓
violetta's dad: *kills Cain's brother*
violetta's dad:
cain: "To Be iN tHe pReDiCaMeNt yOu aRe In RiGhT nOw, yOu HaVe qUiTe aN aTtiTuDe."
violetta:
you guys aren't ready for the next chapter. this was nothing compared to whats coming. prepare yourself.
give me some more predictions! reading the last ones were so much fun.
[non-to-mention, after thirteen chapters you finally find out violetta's mom's name. who else was starting to think her name was just mom and mother lmaoo]